Here at Kamala’s Own, we sell a very broad range of oils. We organize our oils alphabetically according to their category. This is true both on the website and at all of the fairs at which we sell. I’d like to take a few minutes to explain each category in detail. Hopefully, this will help all of you understand what you’re looking at a bit better, and find what you’re looking for more easily. Speaking of finding things, please be aware that there is a very powerful “Search” option on the website. On your computer, you will see the word “search” right under the logo at the top of each page and also on the bottom left of each page. On your phone, you will see the little magnifying glass symbol at the top of the page and the same word ‘search’ on the bottom left. You don’t have to search for a particular product either. You can search using words like ‘calming’ or ‘fruity’ or using ingredients like ‘jasmine.’ Try it and see!
Now let’s talk about oil categories.
1) Essential Oils- Essential oils are highly concentrated substances distilled from a single plant species like Jasmine or Sage. Aromatherapy is healing with essential oils. Essential oils are the only oils used in aromatherapy. It takes 25-2,000 pounds of plant material to make one ounce of essential oil. It is very doubtful that you could make any appreciable amount of essential oil from your garden. The plants for making essential oils are mostly grown on huge plantations devoted to the perfumery and aromatherapy industries. There, gigantic quantities of plant material are shoveled into stills over 20 feet high where they are distilled into the essential oils we love. The distillation process and other essential oil manufacturing methods will be the subject for a future article. With a few notable exceptions like Patchouli, Frankincense, and Lavender, essential oils should be diluted into a carrier oil (good quality vegetable oil like Jojoba or Sesame) before use on the skin. They can also be diluted in massage oils, lotions, liquid soaps, bath salt, and body powders. Another effective use of essential oils is in a diffusor to scent a room. Never use them on cats as they lack the ability to metabolize them. Never use them on children under the age of 10 as their bodies are not developed enough to handle them. Never ingest them. Essential oil safety will be yet another article coming soon.
2) Aromatherapy blends-Aromatherapy blends are original recipes made by Kamala (me) to produce specific effects. They are made with essential oils only, although sometimes I add some Jojoba oil to make sure they are safe for the skin. I recommend they be diluted before use on the skin, but many have found that they don’t need to dilute these blends. I always advocate safety, so I strongly recommend sampling them before use. In person, you can sample from our tester racks. On the website, you can order sample sizes of oils to test them out before purchasing a larger bottle. These blends are made after exhaustive research and testing on my part. The testing is done on myself and willing friends/family, never on animals.
3) Fragrance oils—Fragrance oils are the smallest category of oils we sell. Fragrance means that these are artificial products whose only function is to smell nice. In the past, many of these were products that I bought and sold: I had no input into their making. Over the years, however, several of my suppliers have gone out of business, leaving me high and dry without a scent that I know my customers love. I have begun to simply make my own versions of these scents so that more and more, the fragrance oils are creations of mine as well. To be clear though, fragrance oils are man made scent chemicals and have nothing to do with aromatherapy. They do not have to be diluted for use on the skin.
4) Beautiful perfumes- Perfume blends are fantasy creations of mine. I use both essential oils and fragrance oils in my perfume blends. They can express characters from novels, TV, or movies, like Cap’N Jack or interesting ideas, like Hero’s Journey. There are Drum Circle blends expressing the feel of Middle Eastern drum rhythms and Steampunk blends with elements of smoke and tea. There are pure flights of fancy like Dreamrider and goddess blends like Athene. Sometimes my perfume blends start out wanting to be aromatherapy blends but I can’t find an essential oil necessary for my concept, so they turn into perfumes of necessity. Such is the case with Taurus, one of my astrological blends. Taurus is strongly associated with spring and the scent of Lilac. There is currently no pure essential oil of Lilac so I had to use a synthetic Lilac, turning Taurus into a perfume rather than an aromatherapy blend. Creating perfumes frees my hand to blend with a wider range of scents than just pure essential oils, so the number of my perfume blends grows more quickly than the other categories. Perfume blends are all safe on the skin and do not have to be diluted like essential oils and aromatherapy blends.
I hope this short article has cleared up some questions I hear often. As always, feel free to call or email with any questions I didn’t answer here.